Average Cost to Carpet 1,000 Sq Ft in 2026: $3,530 to $9,190

The average cost to carpet 1,000 sq ft is $3,530 to $9,190 for mid-grade nylon or triexta, including 8 lb rebond pad and professional labor ($3.53 to $9.19 per sq ft), on prices checked 13 October 2026. Budget polyester is $1,940 to $7,480 and wool $4,770 to $15,350. You would order about 123 square yards, and removal of the old carpet is priced on top.

1,000 sq ft cost stack, by carpet grade

Carpet is most of the bill. In the standard column the carpet line is several times the labor line, so the carpet you choose moves the total far more than the installer you choose. Labor runs from Home Depot’s published $0.69 per sq ft basic rate to our $1.60 estimate.

What 1,000 sq ft covers in a real house

1,000 sq ft is about 6.9 rooms of 12 by 12 feet, or our whole 3-bedroom example (533 sq ft of bedrooms and hallway) nearly twice over. Against a whole house it is small: the median new single-family house completed in 2025 had 2,142 sq ft of floor area, and only 11 percent of new houses were under 1,400 sq ft (U.S. Census Bureau, Characteristics of New Housing). So a 1,000 sq ft quote is usually most of the bedrooms, halls and stairs of a mid-size house, a large finished basement, or one whole floor, not every room.

When you compare quotes, ask each installer to list the rooms, doorways and stairs they have priced, not only the square footage. Shaw notes that larger rooms can need extra material for seams and that a pattern with a large repeat needs more carpet to match, so two quotes for “1,000 sq ft” can order different amounts.

1,000 sq ft over concrete or in a basement

A slab needs a pad sold for concrete or damp areas, and that changes the price. On the three basement pads we priced, 1,000 sq ft costs $2,190 to $5,360 in olefin and $3,560 to $9,540 in nylon or triexta ($2.19 to $5.36 and $3.56 to $9.54 per sq ft), before any moisture test or leveling. The basement carpet cost page prices those extras line by line, and carpet over concrete covers slabs above grade.

Home Depot’s published rate vs an independent installer

Home Depot publishes its average costs: carpet $1 to $4 per sq ft, padding $1.01 and installation $0.69 for a basic install. On 1,000 sq ft, with 10 percent waste on carpet and pad, that comes to $2,900 to $6,200. The same carpet and pad with our independent labor range ($0.69 to $1.60) is $2,900 to $7,110. The low ends match only because no independent installer publishes a rate and our labor floor is Home Depot’s. Furniture moving, removal and disposal are priced separately at Home Depot. The Home Depot carpet installation cost page has its current offer and what the price includes.

Regional spread on 1,000 sq ft

Multipliers are each region's employment-weighted mean hourly wage for carpet installers (BLS OEWS May 2025, SOC 47-2041) divided by the national mean, applied to the labor line only; carpet and pad are national retail prices. States with no published estimate are left out of the weighting. For state-level detail see the cost-by-state guide.

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